Overseas scammers make most of fake local area codes

HOLLYWOOD Scammers from overseas could try to con you out of money using a new trick — calling from what you think is a local area code, prosecutors warn.

It happened to Stuart Brisgel, 41, a financial adviser, who planned to sell his four-bedroom house in an upscale Hollywood neighborhood, when a scammer in Nigeria had plans of his own.

The scammer, possibly using legitimate information Brisgel posted online, was trying to rent the house for $800 a month to unsuspecting victims who didn't know the house wasn't actually for rent.

Brisgel learned about the plan after a pregnant woman who had seen the rental posting on Craigslist came to check out the house and, perplexed by the "for sale" sign, called the real estate agent.

The scammer had set up a fake email address using Brisgel's name to correspond with potential victims. Using the IP address, Brisgel found out the scammer was in Nigeria. But the phone number provided had an Alabama area code.

Angry, Brisgel called the number, introduced himself, and made a vague threat — "disappear or see what happens."

He said the man argued at first, telling him: "You Americans, you have all the money, we're starving over here, I have to feed my family." He said he was a mining engineer, Brisgell said, and couldn't find any work. "His English was nearly flawless."

Last winter, the attorney general in Mississippi warned consumers there about overseas fraud from callers in India using local area codes in attempts to extort money from Americans. And a woman in Santa Fe told police she had been swindled out of nearly $100,000 she had wired to someone in exchange for collecting millions of dollars in prizes that never came. The caller had a New Mexico area code but the calls originated from Jamaica.

In all of the cases, the callers were using magicJack, a telephone device made by a company with corporate headquarters in West Palm Beach. The device can be plugged into overseas phones so calls can be made using a U.S. area code. It is intended to allow somebody abroad — such as an American student in Europe — to make calls to the U.S. at a local rate.

When Brisgel searched the phone number with the Alabama area code on Google, he found an alarming post: "owner of this number is a scammer, cheat and a fraud — performing rental scams via Craigslist using this number!"

A further Internet search revealed that the owner of that number was magicJack.

He took his complaints directly to the company, which is also known as YMax Communications Corp.

A representative at magicJack, who said she did not want to be identified, said the Brisgel case was an "unfortunate" situation but there are "millions of customers who use it in good faith."

She also said in an email response that "we have a great track record of working with law enforcement. In fact, many police officers and law enforcement use magicJacks to call snitches and others where they don't want to leave their cell or office numbers behind."

However, Brisgell said, "There's a lack of internal verification. They are giving someone a loaded gun."

The woman who had come to check out Brisgel's house showed him the emails she had exchanged with the man she thought was the owner.

"i am in alabama now," he had written the woman. "Pls note that i cannot show the house physically as i work offshore here in Alabama and cannot possibly travel down for now but can have the keys sent to you so pls do check the house physically and get back to me ... also note that i am a very busy person and have less time for time waster.... hopefully we can get reach a conclusion soon enough ... if you are looking to work with me as adults and make things work then maybe we can start a wonderful owner-tenant relationship."

Brisgel used a spoof name to create an email address and email the scammer. He received a response immediately from the man trying to rent out the house.

"I told him I knew exactly where he was, I knew exactly where he was operating out of, and do you know what could happen?" Brisgel said. "It was an idle threat. I said enough to let his imagination wander."

The Alabama telephone number was immediately disconnected and the Craigslist posting was pulled. A Craigslist spokeswoman did not respond to queries for comment.

In the Mississippi case, a resident received a call from the 407 area code from someone who said he was a police officer in Orlando. He told the woman there was a warrant out for her arrest and she would be picked up the next day if she did not pay to settle the charge.

The call was really coming from India. At the request of the Mississippi Attorney General's Office, magicJack helped verify the scam and disconnected the phone number.